Research says in-game ads failing

New research conducted by behavioural research organisation Bunnyfoot Quantities, claims that in-game advertising in sporting videogames fails to make the impact desired. The organisation used a special 'tool', the Sponsor Fixation Index, to measure the behaviour of 120 gamers. Players were selected across a broad spectrum, based on age, habits and experience - who were then assigned various sports games to play.

The SFI results which emerged from the research were broadly speaking on the low side, Bunnyfoot reveal, meaning that the advertising in the games was not as effective as advertisers might hope or expect. NBA Live and Smackdown Vs. Raw advertising was apparently the most effective, according to the SFI index, whilst Project Gotham Racing 3 was seemingly useless - scoring 0% on the scale.

Interestingly, the in-game advertising was deemed far less effective than the advertising prevalent in the actual sports represented by the videogames - which is presumably rather bad news for publishers hoping to rake in a little more cash by flogging advertising space in their titles. That said, it is unclear how games from other genres fair, with advertising now creeping into third and first person action games too.

Certainly the likes of game ad agency Massive, and publishers fond of ads, such as EA, won't be encouraged by this new report. We'll keep you informed as we learn more.